Great video, again!!! The sound doesn't work at work here, but for some reason all I could think of when chuck pulled the design out of the cupboard was "so that's where he gets all of his designs, a magic cupboard"

Now that the season has slowed down for those of us who don't live in the south, the word of the day is "get all your DG buddies over to the house with the crappiest garage and dye some discs!"

That's actually a lot of words. It doesn't change the fact that I want to see fresh dyes all over this board, each from another newcomer to the hobby. It seems to me that seeing cool custom discs flying around our parks can only lead to even more interest in the sport, and lead to further growth. So get some RIT, an xacto, some vinyl scraps from a local shop, and rig up a little dye laboratory. There are so many fresh ideas in people's minds as to what would be a cool dye, what would be a cool technique to try out, etc. and I'm hoping Tim and I can light the fuse that will lead to even better disc art in the future.

Good luck, and remember to post pictures of your failures as well as successes so the dyers on this board can give you tips for your dips!

We are not like those other golfers. We throw our clubs and keep our balls where they belong. -Ol' Bob

I recently tested a long-brewing idea for hotstamping discs at home, without a metal die, and without mass-produceable results. It looks AWESOME, it's unique, and it'll be the rocket ship to take your dyes NUCULER.

I'll post some better instructions soon, because I have to buy another set of tools to test. A video tutorial will follow.

If anyone wants to start trial/erroring on their own, here's the golden ticket:You need:- woodburning tool- silver or gold leaf (in a double layer, as single layer will burn/tear)Process:- lightly adhere the leaf to your disc... a little water will hold it.- lightly adhere the second layer of leaf to the first... same light moisture method- heat your woodburning tool- tap tap tap away... gentle pressure will melt the plastic so that it gives slightly, and that's your sign that the heat has stuck your metal leaf and plastic together. - when finished, rub away excess leaf under running water- repeat to fill in missed spots

I'm getting a new kit with pen tips and whatnot... so far it's limited to stippling designs, and lines are difficult. Hoping a round tip or a wide calligraphic tip will help with lines.

The result looks great, and has a stamp depth about equal to Discraft's, or near Gateway's if you press harder. It's the same method as mechanical hotstamping... a heated element presses a thin foil into the plastic, and the heat melts the plastic, bonding the foil to the plastic. I was able to scratch at the stamp and not remove it, so it seems as durable as a factory stamp.

Hot dang! That could make some seriously wicked night golf discs. Slap metal covering the whole disc top and drill a hole in the middle for a LED and let it reflect off of the metal. Imagine that spinning in the air at night Flying saucer if any disc has ever been. Reminds me of bad 50s paranoia alien sci fi movies.

Is a soldering iron too hot for attaching the metal foil to the disc?

Ted Damson wrote:^^what he said, plus...

I recently tested a long-brewing idea for hotstamping discs at home, without a metal die, and without mass-produceable results. It looks AWESOME, it's unique, and it'll be the rocket ship to take your dyes NUCULER.

I'll post some better instructions soon, because I have to buy another set of tools to test. A video tutorial will follow.

If anyone wants to start trial/erroring on their own, here's the golden ticket:You need:- woodburning tool- silver or gold leaf (in a double layer, as single layer will burn/tear)Process:- lightly adhere the leaf to your disc... a little water will hold it.- lightly adhere the second layer of leaf to the first... same light moisture method- heat your woodburning tool- tap tap tap away... gentle pressure will melt the plastic so that it gives slightly, and that's your sign that the heat has stuck your metal leaf and plastic together. - when finished, rub away excess leaf under running water- repeat to fill in missed spots

I'm getting a new kit with pen tips and whatnot... so far it's limited to stippling designs, and lines are difficult. Hoping a round tip or a wide calligraphic tip will help with lines.

The result looks great, and has a stamp depth about equal to Discraft's, or near Gateway's if you press harder. It's the same method as mechanical hotstamping... a heated element presses a thin foil into the plastic, and the heat melts the plastic, bonding the foil to the plastic. I was able to scratch at the stamp and not remove it, so it seems as durable as a factory stamp.

Enjoy!

Flat shots need running on the center line of the tee and planting each step on the center line. Anhyzer needs running from rear right to front left with the plant step hitting the ground to the left of the line you're running on. Hyzer is the mirror of that.

ChUcK wrote:Now that the season has slowed down for those of us who don't live in the south, the word of the day is "get all your DG buddies over to the house with the crappiest garage and dye some discs!"

That's actually a lot of words. It doesn't change the fact that I want to see fresh dyes all over this board, each from another newcomer to the hobby. It seems to me that seeing cool custom discs flying around our parks can only lead to even more interest in the sport, and lead to further growth. So get some RIT, an xacto, some vinyl scraps from a local shop, and rig up a little dye laboratory. There are so many fresh ideas in people's minds as to what would be a cool dye, what would be a cool technique to try out, etc. and I'm hoping Tim and I can light the fuse that will lead to even better disc art in the future.

Good luck, and remember to post pictures of your failures as well as successes so the dyers on this board can give you tips for your dips!

I was into dyeing over the summer months had fun and made some nice custom disc. The bug has hit me again since I got some new plastic and I have some dyes picked out to do. The only thing holding me back is looking at the ones I did over the summer and how much they have faded or started to bleed making them look not so good. I can't get past the point of investing time doing a nice dye only to have it start to look crappy a few months later. maybe I should start loosing disc more often so they will always look fresh

question about doing more than one color: if you do a base color, say black, do you need to cover it before dipping into a second color? what if the base color is something other than black? I get the concept of initially exposing what you want dyed black, just a bit unsure of how to proceed from there. from the looks of the first video (scarface disc) it looks like the portion of the disc dyed black is left exposed to the red dye? Is this correct?

say you dye a portion green, then want to do another portion blue... do you cover up the green? with what? if you don't, does the green portion absorb the blue dye and change color slightly?

thanks in advance guys...

Update: Finished my first dye today, and I have a new found respect for solid blade skills. Decided to dye an old STAR Aero that has almost zero value to me, so I wasn't going to be worried about the results - a total trial and error disc.

Printed out the Utopia Disc Golf emblem, and setup a light box using a Stop N Shop basket, a plate of glass from an old picture we don't have hanging, and a lamp. Duct-taped the edges of the glass for safety. This worked just fine, and didn't cost me a thing.

I bought a roll of contact paper from Wal-mart, along with an xacto blade, some tupperware for dye storage, Rit, and two 12" pans (about $20 a piece).

Didn't have any major issues, but I should have practiced my knife skills a few times before applying the contact paper to the disc... but that's why I used an old disc. Realized after the fact, that I need to use a slightly wider piece of contact paper to get full wing coverage (had some leakage).

Set down a base black dye with good results. Peeled off a new section and dyed that red. Then peeled a third section and dyed that blue. What I realized afterwards, is that I should have gone black, blue, then red, as the red turned slightly purple. However, I'd probably guess the same thing would happen to the blue section.

So, what do you guys use to cover up a section you don't want dyed? More contact paper? Masking tape? Also, does stepping up to "sign vinyl" make cutting easier or harder? What color order do you dye in? Obviously doing a black layer and then a single color layer is simple (black first, color second). But a third color?

Last point, aside from cutting the image, the whole process took about two hours, and was really simple. I'll probably work on my knife skills before commiting another disc to the dye though...

Craig Smolin wrote:question about doing more than one color: if you do a base color, say black, do you need to cover it before dipping into a second color? what if the base color is something other than black? I get the concept of initially exposing what you want dyed black, just a bit unsure of how to proceed from there. from the looks of the first video (scarface disc) it looks like the portion of the disc dyed black is left exposed to the red dye? Is this correct?

You don't need to cover up previously dyed areas if the color mixing is desirable. Nothing will change the black color, so covering black areas isn't necessary.

Craig Smolin wrote:say you dye a portion green, then want to do another portion blue... do you cover up the green? with what? if you don't, does the green portion absorb the blue dye and change color slightly?

It might be worth it to try (starting from a white/clear disc) dyeing the portion of the disc you want to end up green in a pan of yellow first, then peel away the parts you want blue, and dipping the disc in blue dye. The yellow parts should mix to green, but it'll be a bit tricky to control the hue.

Craig Smolin wrote:So, what do you guys use to cover up a section you don't want dyed? More contact paper? Masking tape? What color order do you dye in? Obviously doing a black layer and then a single color layer is simple (black first, color second). But a third color?

You know, going back and re-masking a dyed section is pretty tough to do cleanly. I usually don't dip more than two colors because mixing becomes an issue. If I want a whole bunch of colors I use Rit dissolved in acetone and paint the colors on, which makes it easier to keep them from mixing.

Craig Smolin wrote:Also, does stepping up to "sign vinyl" make cutting easier or harder?

I dunno, I've only used sign vinyl, except when I first started experimenting with stuff like elmer's, rubber cement, bumper sticker paper from Office Depot, etc. I'm not sure if contact paper would cut easier or harder, but I'd bet good money that it adheres to the disc much better, leading to a cleaner dye in the long run.

We are not like those other golfers. We throw our clubs and keep our balls where they belong. -Ol' Bob

Do you get dull or scratched areas on the plastic from using acetone? Maybe I've scrubbed too hard before? It barely scuffs enough to change the feel of the plastic, and there's a matte look where it was gloss.